Youth and Families: A Worcester County Snapshot

• Population/Number of Children in Jurisdiction

• The estimated year 2000 population of Worcester County is 43,300 people and is projected to increase 6% in 2010 to 46,000. Worcester County has a variable population which makes it unique from other Maryland. Eight months a year the county has an estimated 70,000 full- and part-time residents, however, during the summer months the influx of summer residents and tourists visiting Ocean City create a population surge to upwards of 300,000 people. Source: Maryland Office of Planning, 1999
• According to the 2000 Maryland Kids Count Fact book a total of 10,366 children and adolescents live in Worcester County, Maryland. The following provides the count of children by age category.
• Birth to Four 2,465
• Five to Nine2,825
• Ten to Fourteen2,740
• Fifteen to Nineteen2,336

B. Relevant demographic characteristics:

•  Geographic Features Worcester County is: the southeastern-most county on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Encompassing 483 square miles of land and 106 square miles of water, it is bordered by the Maryland counties of Wicomico and Somerset to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and Sussex County, Delaware and Accomack County, Virginia respectively to the north and south.
•  Employment: Worcester County’s unemployment rate was 8.8% in 1999 as compared to the overall state rate of 3.5%. The unemployment rate was reported at more than 18% in January and February 1999. Source: MD Depart of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, April, 2000Most county residents are employed in service occupations (18.51%) followed by sales (14.01%), production (13.37%), administration (13.28%), management (11.43%), professional (8.63%), operators/labors (5.02%), farming/forestry (4.73%), transportation (4.48%), handlers/cleaners (4.35%), and technical (2.18%). Source: Community Profile 1999-2000, Worcester Co. Dept. of Economic Development
•  Income:
  
  In 1998, the Median Household Disposable Income was $31,000. Worcester ranked 22nd of 24 Maryland counties for Median Household Income in 1998. Source: One Maryland: The Plight of Maryland Distressed Jurisdictions Average income of a married couple in 1989 was $46,465; the average income of a female-headed family was $14,687. The percent of income spent on child-care in 2000 was 20.8% (based on a family consisting of a couple and two children ages 1-2 and 3-5). Female head of household with no spouse present comprise 20.1% of households in the county (1990 Census); average income of a female-headed family is $14,687; 25% of female headed households living in poverty in 1995. Source: 2000 Maryland Kids Count Fact book
• The cost of family child-care in 2000 for a child ages 0-2 is $79.87 per week. Approximately 19% of children under 18 live in poverty. Source: One Maryland: The Plight of Maryland Distressed Jurisdictions
•  Education: Worcester County has 12 public schools and four non-public schools--five elementary, three secondary, two middle, two combined-grade schools, and one alternative school. On June 30, 2000 there were 6,866 children enrolled in Worcester County’s public schools.
•  Health: Of the 481 Worcester County babies born in 1995, 17, or 3.5%, were born to mothers under the age of 18 while 174 babies (36.1%) were born to unmarried women. There were 83 cases of indicated child abuse and neglect in 1999--up from 62 in 1990, an increase of 33.8%. Source: 2000 Maryland Kids Count Fact book
•  Poverty: From July 1995 to June 1996 there were 594 people served and 219 turned away by homeless service programs in Worcester County. Additionally, 359 households received Temporary Cash Assistance, 1,319 households received food stamps, and 3,174 individuals received food stamps in FT 1997. (Source: DHR Snapshot, 1997).
• The number of children enrolled in Medicaid in was 2,098 in 1998, a 212% increase from 1990 (Source: 2000 Maryland Kids Count Fact book).
• In 1999, 2,364 students were eligible for free/reduced lunch, a 23% increase from 1992 (Source: 2000 Maryland Kids Count Fact book).
•  Family Structure (1990): 77.5% (3,102) of children under 18 with mother in the labor force,73.4% (5,372) of children under 18 with sole/both parent(s) working, 22.9% (1,766) of children under 18 living in a single parent family.Source: 2000 Maryland Kids Count Fact book

C. Summary of Community Needs

• The 2000 Maryland Kids Count Fact book assigned Worcester County an overall child well being ranking of 18th out of the 24 jurisdictions in Maryland (1 is best and 24 low).
• Problem areas for the county include:
• Indicator Area Ranking of 24
• Jurisdictions Children in Poverty18th
• Birth to Teens22nd
• Child Abuse20th
• Early Prenatal 22nd
• Infant Mortality Rate1st
• Juvenile Violent Crime Arrest Rate (ages 10-17)16th
• Juvenile Non-Violent Crime Arrest Rate (ages 10-17)24th